«Selection»
On a diet: The latest innovation from read on, a start-up from Swiss eyewear label Sol Sol Ito, is just 3 millimetres thick, making it one of the thinnest reading glasses on the market. After the eyewear brand's foldable reading glasses caused a sensation three years ago, the ultra-thin, lightweight and flexible "read on light" now comes without an iPhone case, but with a matching hard case in five striking colors.
– DAS IDEALE HEIM, 4/2024
«High-quality, unisex and only three millimeters thick»
"Read on", the Swiss start-up company that began three years ago with the ingenious idea of placing reading glasses in the iPhone case, will soon be launching a new innovation. The two founders, Sandra Kaufmann and Monika Fink, have refined the foldable reading glasses. The new design is ultra-light, very flexible and made of high-quality material (TR90) - and only three millimeter thick. "We've had a lot of inquiries about whether you can buy the reading glasses without the iPhone case, so we developed the light collection with the matching hard case," explains Sandra Kaufmann. In March, the "Read on" team was at the Vision Expo in New York, where they presented the new idea for the first time. "The feedback and interest was great and this has confirmed us to continue the development", Monika Fink adds. The launch of "Read on light" is planned for the fall in Zurich, Switzerland. Orders can already be placed.
By the way, "Read on" recently won the prestigious Red Dot Design Award 2023, yet another accolade for the innovative team. Keep it up!
Text: Denise Dollinger
– Schweizer Optiker, 9/2023
«Certificate
Red Dot Winner 2023»
read on
– Red Dot Design Award, 2023
«iPhone Case with Reading Glasses»
read on
Pragmatic considerations about the everyday use of reading glasses led to the development of “read on”, an iPhone case with an integrated pair of glasses. The compact, multifunctional iPhone case with its reduced design offers space for a pair of reading glasses that is only 3 mm thick. In its protected compartment, the visual aid is not only easy to find and therefore always available: it also cannot be lost or scratched by other objects carried in the same case, such as keys. The jury highlighted both the extraordinarily practical aspects of the product and its refined design, which has created an innovative typology of glasses for men and women.
– Red Dot Design Award , 2023
«iPhone:
Case with perspective»
The business idea
Zurich-based design startup "Read on" has developed reading glasses that are so thin they can be placed inside a smartphone case. "We are an iPhone accessories company and the Read on case with integrated reading glasses is our first product," says co-founder Sandra Kaufmann. "You always have your glasses with you. The idea had been in the designer's drawer for years. With the beginning of the Corona pandemic, they finally found the time for realization. In the meantime, they have been successfully launched in Switzerland and the USA.
– Handelszeitung, 27/2022
«EYE PRO GEAR»
APRIL’S SHORT LIST OF BUSINESS BOOSTING PRODUCTS
#TRENDING
Readers built into our phone cases are a growing category. After all, our smartphones are with us everywhere; we need our reading glasses there too. READ ON, now available in the U.S., are stylish TR90 reading glasses in varying magnifications integrated into a TPU with soft touch surface case for models iPhone XR through iPhone 13 Pro Max. $49.90, readon-mobile.com
– INVISIONMAG.COM, 4/2022
«Swiss design for iPhone::
Case with integrated reading glasses»
The Swiss startup company "Read on" has developed foldable reading glasses that fit into an iPhone case. The glasses are made of ultra-light, flexible and high-quality material (TR90) and are available in four diopter strengths. Robust TPU material for the iPhone case protects the glasses - even when you sit on them. www.readon-mobile.com
– Schweizer Optiker, 5/2021
«Read on»
PRODUCT
Reading glasses are often carried in the same pocket as smartphones and other items like keychains. As a result, they are mostly scratched or lost – when actually required by as many as a third of the population. That’s where Read on come in: We designed and engineered a simple, multifunctional iPhone case with thin, integrated readers. They are smart, functional, compact and unisex and target users over 40 with an iPhone.
STATEMENT OF THE JURY
The combination iPhone case and reading glasses are minimal, slender and highly functional, while providing a practical storage capability that is always at hand. Simple endpieces which fold at right angles allow for a minimal profile that fits perfectly inside the case.
– German design award, special mention, 2/2021
«For the sake of clarity»
The cell phone is a constant companion, but reading glasses are often forgotten. To prevent this from happening again, there is "Read on" - glasses are integrated into the case for the iPhone. In different diopters for 49.90 Fr. at www.readon-mobile.com
– Schweizer Familie, 42/2020
«Read on»
Industrial designer Sandra Kaufmann has already founded the third eyewear company. It is always about an invention on an object that has long since been invented. At ' Strada del Sole ' the clickable temples nestle up to the rounding of the lenses, when the glasses are stored in the trouser pocket see Hochparterre 6 - 7 / 07. For ' Sol Sol Ito ' she has developed with the artist Monika Fink a characteristic temple from spring steel, which can be exchanged see Hochparterre 3 / 15. These do not come alone, but are placed in a case for an iPhone. They fit all faces, regardless of gender. Available in black or white and in four diopter strengths, the eyewear folds flat and disappears into the robust thermoplastic smart phone case. If the case with the smart phone and glasses falls to the ground, springy corners soften the impact. The soft surface flatters the handle. A recess in the case shows whether the glasses are in the compartment, which is only four millimeters high and accommodates the reading glasses, which can be folded completely flat, and protects the smart phone and glasses. The frame is made of the lightweight plastic TR 90, which is considered to be anti-allergic, durable and break-resistant. The inner sides of the long, straight temples are ribbed to improve grip. To prevent the lenses from scratching the case, the frame stands slightly above the correction lens. Spectacles are architectures for the face. This requires a safe design in the millimeter range. With ' Read on ' it is not about the fashionable variation, but about the moment when older eyes need the quick reading aid. For this purpose, Sandra Kaufmann and Monika Fink have sought a formal solution that is remotely reminiscent of a pince-nez, in strict symmetry and in a reduced but - compared to the smooth iPhone design - independent design language. And because we have been reading our magazines and newspapers on the move for a long time, the glasses in the cell phone case are in the right place. Meret Ernst
– Hochparterre, 10/2020
«Soif de design»
Case for iPhone with integrated reading glasses "Read on", design Sol Sol Ito
– Espace Contemporains, 10/2020
«Vienna Design Week»
«Read on» is a multifunctional iPhone case with integrated reading glasses.
– Wohnrevue, 10/2020
«Two smart Swiss women do what no app can - they upgrade a smartphone with their reading glasses»
Monika Fink and Sandra Kaufmann, successful with their eyewear label Sol Sol Ito, have founded a second start-up: Read On. The iPhone is equipped with unisex reading glasses in a special cover. Jürg Zbinden
– Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 11/2020
«Smartphone plus»
The idea is great, the implementation extremely successful, the next award guaranteed. But let's start from the beginning: the smartphone, always available and present, holds the often misplaced reading glasses in its case. Suddenly the glasses are always ready. When the next text message or e-mail is waiting to be read on the cell phone screen. When the menu in a restaurant is written too small and looks unreadable. When the label in the cashmere sweater is hard to decipher. Sandra Kaufmann, industrial designer, and Monika Fink, artist, have taken on this little annoying problem, and above all they have solved it functionally and attractively. With a super-light, collapsible pair of glasses that fits easily into a slim case next to the smartphone. Insiders know Sandra Kaufmann and Monika Fink from their eyewear collection Sol Sol Ito, which is easily recognizable by its filigree temples made of lightest steel. Award after award the duo has won, from the Swiss Design Award to the Red Dot Award. And the next one should not be long in coming.
– BIANCO, Sommer 2020
«Smartphone with view»
Protect your eyes and smartphone, this is the bet won by Read On Mobile. The startup has developed a case for iPhones XR, 11 and 11 Pro Max. Rugged, it holds a pair of unisex reading glasses. In Zurich, the company was founded by Sandra Kaufmann and Monika Fink, who are already at the head of their eyewear brand named Sol Sol Ito. Sokhna Cissé
Case and glasses, 49.90 Fr. at readon-mobile.com
– Femina, 11/2020
«Flat hierarchy»
Reading glasses and smartphone - equally important and equal for many quickly laid. Industrial designer Sandra Kaufmann and artist Monika Fink from Zurich create with their smartphone case with flat collapsible reading glasses help.
– MIS MAGAZIN, Winter 2020/2021
«Where are they?»
Reading glasses get lost quickly. Read on is intended to remedy this. The iPhone case designed by Sandra Kaufmann and Monika Fink contains reading glasses in a specially integrated compartment. Now all you have to do is remember where you left your phone.
– Annabelle, 15/2020
«The reading glasses for the iPhone age»
General redesign for conventional reading glasses: Read on launches a smartphone case with reading glasses in an integrated glasses compartment on the Swiss market. The startup wants to conquer not only the local market but soon also the American market.
Almost every third person needs reading glasses. Some people have several pairs of readers at home - and then none at hand when you need to decipher a text quickly. The smartphone, on the other hand, is less likely to be misplaced. To ensure that the same applies to reading glasses in the future, start-up founders Monika Fink and Sandra Kaufmann have created Read on: a smartphone case with integrated reading glasses. The start-up company has developed flat-folding glasses that fit completely into the only four millimeter high glasses compartment of the smartphone case. For now, the Startup is producing smartphone cases for the latest iPhone generation.
For the distribution of the product, the founders are focusing on the e-commerce channel. The case has been available for a few weeks at Digitec, Galaxus and in their own webshop. Negotiations are currently underway with a European wholesaler as a further distribution partner.
Kaufmann and Fink can build on their experience as serial entrepreneurs. Read on is already the third start-up of the two Female Founders. With their first joint venture Sol Sol Ito, they have specialized in limited edition glasses in the luxury segment. As the next milestone, the startup, which is currently also completing the InnoSuisse Coaching Program, is aiming for market access in the USA. They are currently looking for investors for this step. "We see great potential in the American market because convenience products are popular there and in percentage terms even more people need reading glasses than in Europe," says co-founder Monika Fink. There is at least one reason for optimism: Sol Sol Sol Ito's eyewear has already entered the US market. Fabienne Roos
– Startup Ticker 11/2020
«Genius»
The eternal search for reading glasses has finally come to an end! From now on you can elegantly put them into the "read on" case for the iPhone. And that is really always at hand.
– Sonntagszeitung, 15/11/2020